Offshore oil platforms produce residual gases. For economic and environmental reasons, it is becoming more and more necessary to recover these gases. One method consists in converting them into heavier hydrocarbons, which are in liquid form and are therefore easier to transport, using the Fischer-Tropsch process which consumes large amounts of oxygen.
It would therefore be beneficial to be able to install an air distillation column on board a platform or a barge, but proper operation of equipment of this type is compromised by serious difficulties. Specifically, a first imperative is for the liquid to be distributed uniformly at the column head over the entire cross-section of the latter, despite the oscillations of its axis due to the motion of the waves.